| Tucson, Ariz. –Oct. 10, 2007 – On Sept. 10 and 11, the University of Wisconsin (UW) heart transplant team, including Niloo M. Edwards, M.D., chairman of cardiothoracic surgery and director of cardiac transplantation, and Takushi Kohmoto, M.D., director of the mechanical assist device program, received the first of four phases of certification training on the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) at University Medical Center in Tucson.
The heart transplant program at UW is one of the more active in the United States, with more than 560 heart transplants performed during its history. According to statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing, heart transplant survival rates at UW are some of the highest in the country. While the national patient survival rate for three years post-transplant is 79.7 percent, the three-year survival rate at UW is 86.67 percent.
Today there are 22 CardioWest artificial heart certified centers, 11 in the U.S. and 11 in Europe. UW is the 26th hospital in the world to receive the first phase of certification training.
The CardioWest artificial heart is the only FDA and CE approved temporary artificial heart in the world. Originally designed as a permanent replacement heart, the CardioWest artificial heart is currently approved as a bridge to transplant for patients dying from end stage biventricular failure. Their survival depends on receiving a donor heart, or an artificial heart as a bridge to human heart transplant.
The pivotal clinical study of the CardioWest artificial heart published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM 2004; 351: 859-867) showed that 79 percent of patients receiving the artificial heart survived to transplant, the highest survival rate for any heart device in the world.
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Media Contact:
SynCardia Systems, Inc.
Director of Communications
Don Isaacs
cell: 520-955-0660
About the CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial
Heart
The CardioWest™ TAH‑t is a pneumatic, biventricular, implantable bridge-to-transplant
system for full cardiac replacement, taking the place of the failing heart in
patients at imminent risk of death. The device offers full circulatory support,
the shortest blood path and exposure to artificial surfaces, and the highest level
of cardiac output when compared with other artificial heart systems previously
tested. With the CardioWest™ TAH‑t, patients become better candidates for
eventual transplantation and have post-transplant survival rates equal to that
of non-device cardiac recipients.
About SynCardia Systems
Founded in 2001, SynCardia Systems is the developer of biomechanical cardiac replacement
and assist devices. Its CardioWest™ temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH‑t)
is designed for severely ill patients with end-stage congestive heart failure.
The device serves as an in-hospital bridge-to-transplantation for patients at
imminent risk of death. SynCardia Systems is based in Tucson, Arizona and is on
the Web at http://www.syncardia.com.
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